In the land of Miami Wice
I know I just posted yesterday, and not much has happened since then, but I’m in a hostel that has free Internet and I just can’t resist! Plus, I just spent half an hour waiting and I want to get my half hours’ worth.
Yesterday we had to say goodbye to Jenny for a short while. She is still in Vienna until the 12th when she will fly home for her graduation. She has promised to fly back out and meet up with us shortly after, and if she doesn’t, Kelly and I will find her and break her legs when we go back to London before we fly home. 🙂 Book your ticket Jenny!!! You have been warned.
The train from Vienna to Bratislava was only an hour and fifteen minutes long, but what a difference it made. Vienna was nice in the way that most large European cities are–the streets are clean, the houses aren’t run down; they all sort of look the same to me. Bratislava looks nothing like anywhere we’ve been before. As soon as we walked out of the train station I noticed the difference. The streets were bumpy and uneven, as were the sidewalks; many buildings were boarded up and looked like they hadn’t been lived in in decades; paint peeled off buildings in huge patches, leaving patches of exposed bricks that look like huge scabs. It is the eastern Europe of my imagination.
But, having said that, I really like it here. It’s good to see something besides the pretty city centers where thousands of tourists converge. There are lots of backpackers here (well, at least in two hostels), but it would be wrong to call this place “touristy.” We went out to dinner last night at the Slovak Pub, which serves authentic Slovakian meals in a building that depicts Slovakian history in murals on the wall, and it was quite an experience. We had to wait ages because it was completely packed, and we almost found ourselves in the middle of a Slovakian fist fight. The food was really nice though. My dumplings and sausage turned out to be exactly like a plate of homemade macaroni and cheese. Delightful!
Today we’re going to see the castle here, walk around the old city, and sort of play things by ear. Tomorrow we’re going to leave for Budapest, Hungary. We’re all excited about that as Kelly’s cousin-in-law said that it was like Prague, except without as many tourists. I hope it’s nice!
Oh, and for those of you confused by the title of this post, you must not have seen the movie “Eurotrip.” 🙂
Tags: Austria, Bratislava, Slovakia, Travel, Vienna
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